Drawing
by Fading wind
Summary: A friend helped. Sasuke and Naruto friendship.


Title: Drawing  
Pairing: Sasuke + Naruto  
Rating: G  
Spoilers: If you haven't read up to the timeskip.  
Warnings: None.  
Word Count: 834  
For: LJ comm sasunaru100: challenge #12. Theme - "friends".  
Disclaimer: Naruto not mine.  
Author's Notes: Un-beta'ed. I sat down, started writing, deleted, and started writing again. And just randomly came up with this. Oh, the power of randomness.

**Drawing**

"You have to tidy this place, Sasuke."

Kakashi's voice is light and casual. Sasuke narrows his eyes as he surveys the room.

"It's not messy," he says, picking up a book lying open on the ground.

There is a chuckle. Kakashi shrugs. "It's up to you." A pause. Sasuke raises one eyebrow as he waits for the rest.

"It used to be a lot tidier though."

Sasuke can't remember if Kakashi's words are true. He doesn't try to, either.

---

Sasuke slaps the wet piece of cloth onto the wooden surface. There is a thick layer of dust upon the desk. How long has it been since he last sat at that desk? How long has it been since he last opened his textbooks with the determination to become the best student, the best shinobi, and poured all his heart into studying? He presses one fingertip onto the dust, and lifts it after a while.

He blows gently.

The dust rises in a wave, shining like tiny raindrops in the sunshine. And then it makes its descent, slowly stealing its way back onto the desk.

Settling once more, back onto the wood that has been their home for nearly a decade. Underneath that layer of dust lies an even thicker layer of memories. Fragments of his past life, of his friends and teammates and things that he is sure that he will never be able to bring back anymore.

Sasuke frowns.

He takes away the cloth, and doesn't want to clean the desk anymore.

---

On the street, Sakura, dragging an almost unconscious Naruto with her, stumbles into Sasuke.

"Sasuke...!" the pink-haired kunoichi gasps.

Sasuke calmy regards her and the boy she is holding onto. "Sakura..." he says softly. The word "Naruto" is whispered in an inaudible tone following the girl's name.

Sakura immediately opens her mouth and begins to explain why they had ended like this, but Sasuke raises his hand and stops her. "Go home. I'll take care of Naruto."

The girl's eyes widen in surprise. She hasn't expected this. But she doesn't decline Sasuke. "Okay," she says quietly, looking at the black-haired boy with a trusting gaze. Carefully, she lets go of Naruto and gives him to her other teammate.

"Thanks," Sakura says gratefully, and walks off into the night.

---

Naruto opens his eyes sleepily. The image of Sasuke blurs and sharpens in his vision. Suddenly, his head is spinning and hurting and he cries out without meaning to.

Sasuke whips around, and Naruto thinks he sees alarm and concern in Sasuke's dark eyes. He feels the warmth of Sasuke's hand on his arm in less than a second.

"You're awake," Sasuke states simply.

The alarm and concern seems to have disappeared.

Naruto sits up, and his head is still pounding. "Why am I here?"

"I saw Sakura last night. You were drunk. I carried you back here to my apartment." Sasuke feels no need to elaborate, so he doesn't. Naruto understands.

"... Thanks."

---

"What's this?" After a quick breakfast consisting of nothing but a buttered piece of toast and a cup of water, Naruto points to a cardboard box on the floor and asks.

"It's a box," Sasuke answers, feeling that Naruto could not be more stupid.

"Of course I know it's a box," Naruto yells, frustrated. "I mean, what's it for?"

"To hold things." Another curt reply.

"What sort of things?" Naruto pursues.

"... I don't know, open it and see for yourself."

Puzzled, Naruto bends down and lifts up the brown cardboard flaps. Inside, there is a bunch of random junk. Naruto picks out a sheet of paper. He blinks. Twice. "Isn't this..."

"Yes, it's the picture you drew for me when we were younger," Sasuke affirms. Naruto stares at the picture. It is a childish scribble of two stick figures. One has a fuzz of blue colouring on it, and the other has a fuzz of orange. The sun is the Uzumaki swirl in the corner of the picture, and two round blue things at the top are clouds.

"It's you and me," Naruto says, disbelievingly. His blue eyes are glittering with amazement and happiness. "Sasuke... You kept it for all these years. It's such a horrible drawing too." Naruto laughs.

"Your drawing hasn't improved much since then, dobe." Sasuke smirks.

Naruto notices that Sasuke is calling him 'dobe' again, for the first time after Sasuke left Konoha so many years ago. For some reason, he doesn't feel annoyed in the slightest bit.

"How do you know? You haven't seen any of my latest drawings," Naruto retorts.

"Oh? I'd like to see them."

"But first, promise me you won't ever throw this away." Naruto waves the sheet of paper.

"I never had the intention to," Sasuke replies with a smile.

---

"Wow, this place sure is neat." Kakashi said. "Not a speck of dust. I thought you didn't want to tidy it."

"A friend helped." And that is the only reason Sasuke needs to give.

**The End**


End file.
